This invention relates in general to wheelchairs. In particular, this invention relates to wheelchairs having pivotable footrest structures.
Wheelchairs are a class of personal mobility vehicle that provide greater ambulatory freedom to persons having limited movement abilities. Wheelchairs generally have a frame, a seat assembly, two drive wheels for propelling the vehicle and two pivoting, caster wheels that permit directional control. Wheelchairs also may include a foot support structure, such as a footrest, to permit a user's feet to be supported by the chair. The footrest prevents a user's feet from dragging on the ground and helps maintain the user in a seated position during operation.
In many manually driven wheelchairs, the footrests may be a pair of plates that can be pivoted outward for access to and egress from the chair. Alternatively the footrests may be a single plate or a tubular member that spans between side frame members of the chair. The footrests often extend out from the front of the chair as the forward-most element. This position may make maneuverability in tight spaces difficult or impede ingress and egress from the chair. The forward position of the footrest also shifts the user's center of gravity (CG) forward, such as toward the front caster wheels. This forward shift of the user's CG may make steering more difficult or make the ride harsh and unstable.
When deployed, the footrest provides adequate support for the user's feet. However, the deployed footrest makes ingress and egress from the chair cumbersome. Because of this ingress and egress issue, some footrest structures are pivotable in order to allow a user's foot to have direct access to the ground.
It would be desirable to provide an improved footrest structure for wheelchairs.